The Beginning
by anonyreaderfan
Summary: The story of the love triangle and the curse of the vampire did not begin with Silas and Ketzia. The roots of this tragedy are buried deep in history. This is the story of how it all began . . . and perhaps ends.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: The Vampire Diaries if the property of the CW. No copyright infringement is intended.

~ X ~

Ancient proverb - There is no death. There is only change

Ancient proverb - Life repeats itself over and over again. It has all been done before.

~ X ~

Prologue

She glided noiselessly into the room, her delicate footsteps making no sound on the creaky old wooden boards. She wandered around his bedroom, hands ghosting over objects she thought has been important to him. She never let her skin actually make contact with anything as if she was afraid she would somehow contaminate it with her touch. As if it would lose the memory it held of him.

She refused to look at the stripped down mattress. Damon had finally come in when she wasn't home and removed the sheets. She was angry at first, missing the comfort of lying on his bed, burying her face in his pillow, imagining that she could still smell him. But she understood why he did it and she forgave him for she loved him.

She ended, as she always ended, at the desk where he had sat and wrote, pouring out his thoughts onto paper. She flipped the cover on his last journal, and the binder permanently creased by now, automatically opened to the last page he had written.

_Who am I? _

_Or is the right question what am I?_

_I doubt everything I thought I knew about myself. _

_Did I ever really love her or was it programmed in my genes? Did I ever have a choice or was I just destined to love her or one of the many hers? Why was I so attracted to Katherine? Why was I so attracted to her? I didn't really know her before I loved her._

_Does my brother hate me because I was stuffed into his family, the way a cuckoo bird lays an egg in another bird's nest and leaves? Am I nothing more than a pretender?_

_Am I just something nature decided was needed to maintain some kind of balance? Like a weight placed on a scale, it's sole purpose to offset something that truly has value._

_Am I just a copy of the original? Of Silas? Am I a numbered version like what they offer on TV? Cast from the same mold, but appraised much lower than the first._

_I feel hollow. Fake._

_Why did a doppelganger pick me to change into a vampire? Was she drawn to me like I was drawn to her? Was my poor brother an innocent bystander? A casualty of a war being waged by fate?_

_Am I nothing more than a puppet on a stage, my strings pulled to make the audience laugh?_

_Did she realize that I was a puppet? A nothing? Did she rebel against fate and that's why she decided she loved my brother? Can I really blame Elena for not wanting to waste time loving a puppet?_

_All I have are questions._

_There are no answers in Mystic Falls._

_There is only pain in Mystic Falls._

She swore she could feel his anquish when she touched these pages. As if it seeped in through her fingertips. She blinked back the tears that wanted to come, knowing from experience that the hot, scalding liquid did nothing to alleviate the guilt she felt when she thought about what had been done to him. How she had unknowingly made him feel.

She sat for what could have been hours staring off at nothing until she finally felt the weight of someone's eyes on her.

She turned slowly and saw Damon standing in the doorway anxiously watching her. He tried to make his face neutral when he realized she was aware of him but he didn't wipe the concern off his face fast enough.

She tried to reassure him, giving a small smile and a shrug. "I can't stop myself."

He nodded and walked slowly over to stand behind her, hands on her shoulders. He squeezed gently, saying. "He'll be okay. We'll see him again. We just need to give him time."

He tried to sound positive but she heard the concern, the doubt in his voice and was tempted to say what she was thinking. _When you say those words why does it always sound like you're trying to convince yourself?_

But she didn't say them. She never said those words, choosing instead to let him think she believed him. She sometimes wondered if he also knew they were both pretending.


	2. Scroll of Shame 1

Contents of Papyrus Scroll – circa 4000 years old.

Translated by Elijah Mikaelson

Translator's comments –

This scroll came into my possession a number of years ago under circumstances which I won't go into now. It has always been my intention to translate it but pressing family matters interfered. Now that the family concerns have been dealt with I had the time and certain circumstances compelled me to undertake the translation. Various archaic names were left as they appeared in the scroll but I added a translation in parenthesis so that modern readers would have a greater understanding of the context of the writing.

_I, Narmer, Son of Ra, Uniter of the Upper and Lower Lands into one Kingdom, Pharaoh of all the lands my eye beholds, Scourge of my enemies, Beloved of my people, Son of the Gods, Fearless Warrior, Wise Ruler, the One whose mere name brings fear to those who would oppose me, the One before whom all cower in the dirt, do hereby declare that which is written is truth._

_I have caused these scrolls to be hidden in a mastaba deep in the desert. This mastaba was built into the side of a dune and then buried. All who know of the location including my scribe Ahmes will be put to death. I will entrust the secret of the tomb only to five of my most faithful Medaji_ (Pharaoh's bodyguards) _with the sacrosanct command to guard this hiding place through the ages. They are tasked to train their children and their children's children and all their successors to this sacred trust until such times as the Goddess wills otherwise. They will know this time according to signs and portents they have been taught to recognize. The chief one will be that the fierce ball of fire with the great streaming tail will once again race across the heavens._

_I write this down so my successors will know that even I, son of Ra, do bow to what the Goddess Isis hath decreed for she is angered by my family and has prevented the Great River Iteru _(Nile) _from overflowing its banks and giving life to my people. I do what I do not out of revenge but to protect my people and my lands._

_I begin the story as I must with my family. I start with the most important, my Queen, my chief wife, my Sister, my Beloved Anippe_ (Daughter of the Nile). _Our grandmother came from a land beyond the great desert, and Anippe had eyes that were a light grey like the sky when the chariot of Ra first appears on the horizon. Perhaps that is why our first child had eyes the color of the Iteru where the water pools deepest. Even the precious lapis lazuli dimmed when held next to him. He was named Jabari _(Brave).

_His name fit him for he grew strong and brave. As he grew older he also grew headstrong and would not always listen to my counsel. He was destined to be my successor and this was not a bad trait because he could not be swayed by false flattery but it was also a cause of many arguments between us. _

_Anippe missed her cycle of the moon five more times but each time the Lord Osiris took the child. Finally after much prayer and sacrifice a new child was given to us but the Gods demanded a great price._

_He knew his mother's arms and love for a week before the fever that plagues women in their childbed claimed her life. He was her joy and delight and she called me to her and told me how much she loved him and how happy she was too give me another son. I think she heard the God Osiris calling her because she made me promise to love him always, if not for him then for her sake. She asked that I name him Babafemi_ (Loved by His Father).

_I agreed for her peace of mind but after her death I changed his name to Hasani_ (Handsome_), not as some have claimed because I blamed the death of my beloved Anippe on him but rather to avoid strife with my other wives and children. Because he was beloved by me. He grew strong and handsome, perhaps not as handsome as his elder brother, but he was beautiful to me because he was the image of his mother, as his elder brother was made in my image. He had her sweetness of spirit and his eyes were the color of the green of the life giving crops. They were a wonder to all who beheld him and the priests said his birth was an omen for events to come. They were vague in their prophecies using words like incredible and remarkable and I should have been forewarned for these words do not necessarily imply goodness._

_His older brother Jabari adored him as much as I did and as Hasani grew older he tried to play peacemaker between us. For Jabari was made in my image and we both had the same desire to rule and to be supreme. But Hasani like his mother Anippe wanted peace and harmony. He seemed to always feel what others felt and try to help them. He was greatly beloved by all and perhaps it was his gentleness of spirit and his ability to see the best in everyone that was his undoing._

_My next wife, Amanirenas, came from the land of Nubia. She was the daughter of a Kandace_ (Queen) _and would have been next to rule but she consented to by my consort for the sake of peace between our peoples. She was a wise woman and one of great power because she had the sight and the blessing of Isis. She gave me many children but her eldest named Isetnofret_ (Isis is Beautiful) _inherited her full power_ and perhaps more _and was dedicated at birth to the service of Isis. Isetnofret was a loving, shy child who grew into a comely young woman. She was quiet with great depth to her that she did not readily reveal. Amanirenas always gave me wise and true counsel and the great tragedy that befell my family came because I ignored her words of wisdom._

_I had many more wives and concubines but my most precious was Jamila_ (Beauty). _Her family and mine were closely intertwined and her male relatives were both powerful and ambitious. So close were we related in blood that their branch of the family could easily have been Pharaoh in my stead. Amanirenas and my most trusted advisors warned me against taking her as my wife for they swore she was a deadly viper that would strike when I least expected but her beauty blinded me and I wanted her. Her family would not let her come to me as concubine but only as consort and in my lust for her I gave in, smitten with her beauty and her charm. I took her to wife over the objections of my brothers and wives. Amanirenas warned me most passionately but this one time I refused to listen to her and I rue the day. _

_So she came to me as wife but she bore me only daughters. This enraged her but much as I was enamored of her I was secretly pleased because a son would give her family elevated notions of their importance and would lead to trouble. I did not ever give voice to my suspicions but I believe Amanirenas may have used to powers to sway the goddess to withold sons._

_Her eldest daughter was the image of her mother and she was named Kamilah_ (Perfection) _at birth. Truly the Goddess made sure she lived up to her name. Her brown eyes were huge and liquid like the does that lived in the swamp. She moved with the grace of a gazelle and her thick brown hair was lush and saved from the common by beautiful highlights. She had big red inviting lips and her eyes held an invitation long before she knew the ways of men. She had the knack of pleasing men and making them feel important and even the most mistrustful of my brothers eventually succumbed to her charms. As for me, I adored her and often called her Miw-shet _(Kitten). _As she grew to womanhood her beauty and charm were enhanced and all eyes followed her when she walked past. _

_Even in the nursery my sons would vie for her attention and ignore the other girls but her attention was fastened on my sons from my sister wife Anippe. Perhaps her mother pushed her to this but to be honest I believe she was truly attracted to the light eyed brothers for all the women loved and admired them. They were both fascinated by her but my blue eyed, dark haired Jabari would not allow her to overrule him. Soft hearted Hasani, however, was enthralled with her and always gave way to her wishes._

_My Amanirenas, ever watchful, warned me about this but I paid no heed. Jabari was eldest and would be Pharaoh after me. His eldest sister by my other full sister wife Halima_ (Gentle) _would be his co-ruler and he saw the wisdom of this. This was one of the few things we were in full agreement on. He expressed his intention to take Kamilah as a minor wife but he would not elevate her since he was wary of the political ambitions of hermother Jamila and the rest of her family. The succession was set. My eldest son was aware of court politics and I did not fear for him. What did I care if my son Hasani favored her? He was to be dedicated to the priesthood of Isis and his infatuation could cause no harm._

_This would please Isetnofret because it was common knowledge that she also favored Hasani. She was well behaved and knew her duty but try as she might she could not help her eyes from following him in a crowd or the look of pleasure on her face when he spoke to her. I believe her mother spoke to her but was satisfied with her measured response for not even her mother realized the burning fires of passion she hid within her calm, measured exterior. We thought all was well because they would be the High Priest and Priestess of Isis and thus the guardians of our religion would be firmly behind my son Jabari and he would not need to fear treachery from that quarter when he assumed the throne._

_But I who was so sharp and clear eyed on the battlefield and in the intrigues of the court was blind to the dangers in my family. I underestimated the viper I had allowed into my house. Jamila's devotion was dedicated solely to her family and its perceived right to rule and as I found out to late she indoctrinated our daughter, my beloved Kamilah, in this belief from the cradle._

Translator's comments:

The scroll ends here but it's obvious that it's not complete because the signature of the scribe Ahmes is missing and the custom of the time demands that the scribe attest that he faithfully transcribed the Pharaoh's words. The information in this scroll both peaks my interest and concerns me. I will go to Egypt and discover the tomb that is referred to in the scroll.

~ Elijah Mikaelson


End file.
